EFE Celebrates 20 Years

U.S. Senator Obama is featured speaker; The Daleys receive honors

This fall, on October 7th, Equip for Equality will recognize its two-decade mission of advancing the rights of people with disabilities in Illinois by hosting a special 20th Anniversary Celebration in downtown Chicago. U.S. Senator Barack Obama, a champion of human and civil rights, is the event's featured speaker, and Mayor Richard M. Daley and Mrs. Maggie Daley will be presented Equip for Equality's Civic Leadership Award for their combined work in making Chicago a national model of inclusiveness and equity for people with disabilities. The event has also invited Curt Decker, director of the National Disability Rights Network in Washington, DC, to speak about the national impact Equip for Equality and the Protection & Advocacy System has had on disability rights over the last 20 years. Equip for Equality welcomes back WBBM Channel 2 investigative reporter Dave Savini as master of ceremonies.

While the Celebration is the year's most significant fundraiser, expected to bring in enough resources to sustain and build many of the organization's programs that rely on private support, it is also an opportunity to reflect on how far we have come in establishing a truly civil society for people with disabilities.

In 1985, when Equip for Equality (then Protection & Advocacy, Inc.) was established as the state's independent agent for the federal Protection & Advocacy System, its charge was to advance the rights of people with only developmental disabilities. Within a few years, however, the organization's mandate included people with mental illness, and by the end of the first decade encompassed all disabilities. These program expansions established resources for attorneys and advocates to provide recourse for individuals who were experiencing discrimination, segregation, or abusive practices and policies. Read the Full Article...

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